1. Seven #2
I wrap my arms around him, forgetting all about being sweaty — or at least, not caring — as his hands start to wander, grabbing and pinching. I moan, thoroughly distracted to the point where I don’t even notice that someone has ignored the closed sign and walked in until I hear a throat clearing.
I jump away from Havoc, my cheeks flushing red all over again, and turn to face Caleb.
“Is this a thing with you?” Caleb asks Havoc, sounding deeply unimpressed. “You enjoy public sex?”
Havoc grins widely. “Nah. I’m not gonna fuck anyone out in the pool or on the street. But this isn’t public, is it?”
Considering we’d already fucked in the pool—with Caleb’s blessing—that’s not exactly reassuring.
Caleb rolls his eyes. “Anyone could have walked in. Like the cleaning staff, who don’t deserve to see your bare ass.”
“Nothing bare about it,” Havoc counters. After a beat, he adds, “Yet.”
My anxiety spikes as I look at Caleb, fully expecting to see disgust in his expression when he looks at me. There’s none of that. I can’t tell exactly what he’s thinking beyond the fact that he’s annoyed that we were getting a little too intimate in the relative privacy of the gym.
“I’m sure you meant to say, never .” Caleb walks over to me, and I tense.
He’s so well put together in comparison to me and Havoc. His short, brown hair is perfectly styled, the three-piece suit is freshly pressed, and the only thing he smells of is his cologne.
“I actually need to borrow Seven, if the two of you are done for the day,” Caleb says. He purses his lips. “It… will not be a pleasant conversation.”
My chest tightens with anxiety. “Whatever I did?—”
Caleb holds up his hand. “No, you didn’t do anything. I need information from you. It won’t be pleasant because it might stir up memories.”
I think that’s worse than being in trouble. “Oh,” I say. “Let me… Can I shower first? I’m sticky and gross.” That’ll give me time to settle, too, hopefully — as much as I can, knowing Caleb wants to talk to me about the past.
Havoc scowls at Caleb. “It couldn’t wait? We were still in the middle of training.”
“I waited until your training session was over,” Caleb points out. Then he sighs. “And no, it can’t wait. I already put off the conversation for as long as I could.”
It could always be longer, especially if it’s going to bring up memories I wish I didn’t have. “Okay,” I say, already feeling defeated. “I’ll meet you upstairs.” I glance at Havoc, and even though it’s irrational, I want to hurt Caleb a little for taking this away from me. “Will you walk me up?”
“Yeah, duh. I’ll help you shower, too,” Havoc says, putting his arm around me. He gives Caleb one more glare before he leads me to the gym locker rooms. Caleb doesn’t follow us.
Havoc grabs our bags from the locker and stalks toward the showers. There are individual stalls, but we both get into the same one.
I don’t want to be alone now.
“Fucker,” Havoc mutters. “You don’t have to tell him anything, by the way. Hell, if you want, we can sneak out and drive my car halfway across the country.”
I manage a weak smile, and because I’m not mad at him , I don’t remind him of the tracker or the fact that that would mean leaving his mom behind. “It’s okay.”
It’s really not. But at the same time, I’m aware that killing Caleb’s grandfather put him in a precarious situation. He probably does need the information if he’s going to keep all four of us safe — not to mention the rest of his family.
I owe him.
It’s only a few memories. I can deal with that.
I think.
“Let’s get cleaned up,” I tell him.
We shower quickly, without the usual post-training groping we do. I let Havoc shampoo my hair with the special shampoo Caleb had bought for me because he said the hotel-provided shampoo wasn’t good enough.
Havoc towels me off after we get out of the shower, too. “Okay. You want me to go with you?”
I hesitate. “Just upstairs,” I tell him. I don’t want him to hear any more details than he has to. It’s bad enough that he knows what he does. “I… I don’t think you should stay.”
Havoc scowls at me. “If you don’t want me to, I won’t, but I can handle anything if you need me to.” He squeezes my hand. “I’m not going to see you differently because of… whatever.”
I look away from him. “I know you can handle it,” I say quietly, even though I’m not sure that’s the truth. “But I’m not sure I can.”
“Oh.” Havoc packs up our stuff, but when he’s done he reaches for my hand again. “All right. Let’s take you to Caleb’s torture session.” He gives me a crooked smile. “Good thing you’re a masochist, right?”
The words surprise a laugh out of me, and my smile is genuine, if tentative, as I look up at him. “Yeah. Good thing.”
I’m still quiet as he accompanies me up the elevator and to the penthouse suite. I stop right outside the door, feeling helpless and afraid, but I let him kiss me before I turn with dread to face the inevitable.
I push the door open, leaving Havoc behind, and I see Caleb sitting on the couch with Miss K on his lap and Nacho rubbing against his ankles.
“Hi,” I mumble.
“Hi,” Caleb says. He’s taken his jacket, vest, and tie off, and even removed his contacts.
I’m not sure I like him with glasses. The extra layer of glass makes his expression more unreadable.
Caleb pats the spot next to him on the couch. “Come here, pet.”
“Yes, Master,” I tell him, reluctantly joining him on the couch. Nacho jumps up into my lap, and I pet him with a shaky hand. “Do… Do we have to do this?” For all that I’d told Havoc it’s necessary, I don’t want it to be.
Besides, Caleb never seems surprised by what I tell him. It’s like he already knows, and sometimes I think he wants to force me to say it, even though I don’t know why.
“Your mother has been reaching out to all the important people in the city,” Caleb says, making my heart skip a beat.
“Virgil Club, Blake Heart, and Valentín Diamante have all suggested as much. That’s not counting politicians or city officials.
I’ve done what research I can, but I think…
” He sighs and strokes Miss K’s fur. “You need to tell me what you know about Abigail Lockwood. The more I know, the better I can protect you.”
My stomach is in knots, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to get sick.
“I don’t know names, I don’t know how they found people, I don’t know anything .
” But I swallow hard. “She thinks I do, though, doesn’t she?
She’s not trying to get me back because I’m her…
her kid, or whatever. She thinks I could do damage. ”
“I don’t need to know how things operate,” Caleb says gently. He takes my chin and forces me to look up at him. “Tell me about Abigail Lockwood. Tell me what kind of person she is. Tell me what she likes, what she hates, and what pisses her off more than anything.”
The idea of laying it all bare like this has me shaking. I’m not sure I can do it. I’m not sure I know . “I don’t know,” I say. “Master, I lived… I lived in a single room.” I swallow hard, not sure how much I can say. “Twenty-one steps, from one side to another,” I find myself whispering.
There were three locks on the door, too, but I don’t say that.
“A single room,” Caleb repeats, and there’s a strange hitch in his voice. “This was the room where you… where you serviced people?”
I close my eyes, shrinking in on myself. “Yes,” I whisper. “I didn’t… I didn’t get the run of the house. That was for special occasions. My sister—” I can’t. I can’t do this.
“You have a sister?” Caleb asks. “Okay. Tell me about her, instead. Tell me an event you remember.”
I’m surprised he doesn’t know about Emily.
I take a deep breath.
Then I reach deep inside, into one of the few precious moments I had with my family, and I tell him everything.